Package with a flat hinge portion

ABSTRACT

A package comprises a housing portion having a cavity for holding an item, a cover portion, and a connection portion connected the housing portion and the cover portion. The connection portion is generally flat and is less in bending resistance than adjoining parts of both housing and cover portions, whereby the package is most liable to bend at connection portion so as to bring the cover portion and the housing portion to each other.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to the packaging industry, and more particularly, to a plastic package having two elements which come together by bending along a hinge portion therebetween. The package is of the type normally called a clamshell package in the relevant industry.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Plastic packages are widely used for holding merchandise items. As show in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a plastic package 10 typically comprises a housing portion 1 with a bulging portion 19 forming a cavity 11 for accommodating the item (not shown), and a cover portion 2 which is connected to the housing portion 1 by a hinge portion 3. Upon bending along the hinge portion 3 in the direction shown by the arrow in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the cover portion 2 and the housing portion 1 come to overlap each other, whereby the cover portion 2 covers the cavity 11 for keeping an item within the cavity 11. The cover portion 2 may be formed with a protrusion 23 which is adapted to snugly engage in the cavity 11 so that the cover portion 2 is able to be secured to the housing portion without the need for additional means such as adhesive or a staple.

[0003] To ensure that the package is most likely to bend at the hinge portion 3 so as to bring the housing portion 1 and the cover portion 2 together, the hinge portion 3 should have less bending resistance than adjoining portions. Conventionally, the hinge portion 3 is formed with a trough having a bottom 30 which is thinner then side walls 31 as well as adjoining portions 32 close to the trough, whereby the bottom 30 has the least bending resistance and the package is most liable to bend along the bottom 30 of the trough when a user tries to fold the cover and housing portions toward each other. This type of hinge also acts as to provide a deliberate folding location for accurately closing both halves of the package.

[0004] To make the trough bottom 30 thinner than the side walls 31 and the adjoining portions 32, a female mold 21 is used in the molding process, as shown in FIG. 2A. When a flat soft plastic plate 20 is placed on a female mold 21 and vacuumed and/or pressed to form the package, the trough bottom 30 of the hinge portion 3 is stretched and is therefore thinner than the side walls 31 and the adjoining portions 32. Similarly, however, the bottom 11 a of the cavity 11 of the housing portion 1 is also stretched and therefore is undesirably thinner than side walls 11 b and 11 c. Furthermore, if some small decorations 12 (as shown in FIG. 1A) are desired to be formed at the bottom 11 a or side walls 11 b, 11 c of the cavity 11, it is not convenient to trim, polish or clean the molding portions 22 for the decorations 12 formed in the deep cavity of the female mode.

[0005] The foregoing problems with treatment of the cavity are solved if the molding process uses a male mold. In a process using a male mold, the bottom 11 a of the housing portion 1 is least stretched and is therefore thicker than side walls 11 b and 11 c. Furthermore, it is convenient to trim or clean the molding portions 22 for the small decorations 12, which are now formed on the bulging outer surface of the male mold and therefore easy to access.

[0006] Thus, it would be desirable to use a male mold in the process for making the package, however, use of a male mold will create a hinge that does not bend properly because it is thickest at the portion where it should bend.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The above objects are achieved by a novel package of the present invention which comprises a housing portion having a cavity for accommodating the item therein, a cover portion adapted to cover said cavity of said housing portion, and a connection portion bridging the housing and cover portions. In particular, the connection portion is generally flat and is smaller in bending resistance than adjoining parts of both housing and cover portions. Thus, because the connection portion is flat, either in the horizontal or vertical direction, the package can be made with a molding process using a male mold to form the cavity in the housing portion. When trying to bend the package so as to bring the cover portion and the housing portion toward each other, the package bends at the connection portion which has less bending resistance that adjoining portions.

[0008] Preferably, the connection portion is an elongated strip with two opposite straight longitudinal edges connected to the adjoining parts respectively, and each of the adjoining portions comprises at least one vertical wall extending in a plane perpendicular to the opposite edges of the strip. In an embodiment, the connection portion is a single edge shared by both the housing portion and the cover portion.

[0009] The vertical wall can be a part of the wall of the cavity, or a part of the wall of protrusion/recess which are formed on the cover and/or housing portions to snugly engage each other. The vertical wall may comprise side walls of one or more ridges.

[0010] The connection portion may also be an elongate strip with cut-away holes or indents to decrease its bending resistance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The above and other features and advantages of the present invention can be understood more clearly from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0012]FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing a typical conventional package with a hinge portion having a trough;

[0013]FIG. 1B is a sectional view of the FIG. 1A;

[0014]FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating a conventional molding process in which a female mold is used to make the package shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B;

[0015]FIG. 3A is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the package according to the present invention;

[0016]FIG. 3B is a side view of FIG. 3A;

[0017]FIG. 3C is an enlarged view of the portion “A” in FIG. 3A showing one of the ridges in more detail;

[0018]FIG. 4A is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the package according to the present invention;

[0019]FIG. 4B is a side view of FIG. 4A;

[0020]FIG. 5A is a perspective view showing a third embodiment of the package according to the present invention;

[0021]FIG. 5B is a side view of FIG. 5A;

[0022]FIG. 6A is a perspective view showing the fourth embodiment of the package according to the present invention;

[0023]FIG. 6B is a side view of the FIG. 6A;

[0024]FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a fifth embodiment of the package according to the present invention; and

[0025]FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a sixth embodiment of the package according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0026] Reference is made to FIGS. 3A-3C showing a first embodiment of the package of the present invention, which generally comprises a housing portion 1, a cover portion 2 and a connection portion 3 bridging therebetween. Similar reference numbers are used to designate similar elements throughout the drawings.

[0027] The housing portion 1 is formed with a cavity 11 for accommodating an item (not shown). The cavity 11 is formed by a bulging portion 19 stepping down from a bottom 13 e of a recess 13 formed at the housing portion 1. The recess 13 is generally rectangular in shape with vertical side walls 13 a, 13 b, a proximal wall 13 c and a distal wall 13 d.

[0028] The cover portion 2 is formed with a protrusion 23, which is adapted to snugly engage with the recess 13. Similar to the recess 13, the protrusion 23 is also generally rectangular in shape with vertical side walls 23 a, 23 b, a proximal wall 23 c and a distal wall 23 d.

[0029] The connection portion 3 is a narrow elongate strip which is contiguously connect to the proximal walls 13 c and 23 c of the housing portion 1 and the cover portion 2 by two longitudinal opposite, generally straight edges 3 a and 3 b, respectively. Importantly, the connection portion is generally flat and, unlike the conventional hinge portion shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, does not rely upon a trough for bending. The strip 3 shall be narrow enough to ensure that the two portions 1 and 2 of the package can be folded at the deliberate location so as to accurately close the package. The size of the narrow strip 3 depends on factors such as the material thickness, the package size, etc.

[0030] Each of the side walls 13 a and 13 b of the recess 13 of the housing portion 1 extends in a plane that is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip 3 (i.e., the derection along the opposite edges 3 a and 3 b), respectively. Similarly, each of the side walls 23 a and 23 b of the protrusion 23 of the cover portion 2 extends in a plane that is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip 3 respectively. The side walls 13 a, 13 b and 23 a, 23 b increase the housing portion 1 and the cover portion 2 in resistance against bending along the longitudinal direction of the strip 3. Thus, when one tries to bend the package at a location near the connection portion 3 along the longitudinal direction so as to fold the housing portion 1 and the cover portion toward each other, the package is most liable to bend along the strip 3 because the strip 3, which is generally flat, is less in bending resistance than either of the adjoining portions of the housing and cover portions 1, 2 having side walls 13 a, 13 b or 23 a, 23 b that are generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip 3.

[0031] The cover portion 2 is formed with multiple ridges 25 along the proximal wall 23 c to provide additional stiffness. As more clearly shown in FIGS. 3C, each ridge 25 comprises two vertical opposite side walls 25 a and 25 b which extend in a plane generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip 3, thus, similarly to the side walls 13 a, 13 b and 23 a, 23 b, further increasing the bending resistance of the cover portion 2 at the adjoining portion near the strip 3. A slope 25 c is formed between the two vertical side walls 25 a and 25 b.

[0032] Two cut-away indents 4 are provided at the opposite longitudinal ends of the connection strip 3 to decrease its resistance against longitudinal bending, thus further ensuring that the desired longitudinal bending will occur along the strip 3.

[0033] A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. In this embodiment, the housing portion 1 does not have the recess 13 as in the first embodiment, and the protrusion 23 of the cover portion 2 is adapted to snugly engage with the cavity 11 formed by the bulging portion 19 of the housing portion 1. The bulging portion 19 has a proximal wall 19 c connected to the longitudinal edge 3 a of the connection strip 3. The bending resistance of the housing portion 2 is increased by the two opposite side walls 19 a and 19 b which are generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the connection strip 3.

[0034] As an alternative to the connection strip 3 extending in a horizontal direction as showin in FIGS. 3A, 3B and 4A, 4B, the connection strip 3 can be formed in a vertical direction as in a third embodiment shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. In this embodiment, the connection strip 3 extends in a vertical plane on which both the proximal wall 13 c of the housing portion 1 and the proximal wall 23 c of the cover portion 2 rest.

[0035] In an fourth embodiment shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the connection strip 3 can be simply a straight edge shared by both the housing portion 1 and the cover portion 2, in which the opposite edges 3 a and 3 b merges into a single edge.

[0036] A fifth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 7. In this embodiment, the housing portion 1 and the cover portion 2 do not have the vertical sides walls 13 a, 13 b, 23 a, 23 bat the adjoining portion to increase the bending resistance. In this embodiment, however, the bending resistance of the connection portion 3 is decreased by a plurality of cut-away narrow holes 35 along the flat strip, which can be formed by cutting away after the molding process is completed. The flat strip of the connection portion 3 in this embodiment is illustrated by dash lines which do not actually exist but are only used here for showing the region of the connection portion 3 where the bending resistance is decreased.

[0037] Similarly, a sixth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 8, in which the bending resistance of the connection portion 3 is decreased by forming cut-away indents 4 at the opposite free ends of the flat strip. Conventionally, the housing portion 1 and the cover portion 2 can be secured to each other by a staple or adhesive after they are folded to overlap each other.

[0038] Preferred embodiments have been described above in detail. It shall be appreciated, however, that numerous amendments, adaptations and changes can be made by a skilled person in the art without departing the gist of the present invention. For example, the vertical wall that increases the bending resistance at the adjoining portions does not need to be strictly perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the connection flat strip 3, but can assume a proper angle to the longitudinal direction so as not to be parallel to the longitudinal direction. The increased bending resistance in the cover portion 2 adjoining the connection portion 3 can be provided solely by the ridges 25 if the protrusion 23 of cover portion 2 in FIGS. 3A is omitted. In this situation, the bridges 25 are formed directly on a flat surface of the cover portion 2. Therefore, the present invention is intent to be solely defined in the accompanying claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A package for holding an item, comprising: a housing portion, having a concave cavity for accommodating said item therein; a cover portion adapted to cover said cavity of said housing portion, and a connection portion bridging said housing and cover portions; wherein said connection portion is generally flat and less resistant to bending than adjoining parts of both housing and cover portions, whereby said package bends at said connection portion so as to bring said cover portion and said housing portion to each other.
 2. A package of claim 1, wherein said connection portion comprises an elongated strip with two opposite straight longitudinal edges connected to said adjoining parts of said housing and cover portions, respectively.
 3. A package of claim 2, wherein each of said adjoining parts of the housing and cover portions has a structure strengthening its bending resistance.
 4. A package of claim 3, wherein said strengthening structure comprises at least one vertical wall extending in a plane perpendicular to said flat strip and is not parallel to said longitudinal opposite edges of said flat strip.
 5. A package of claim 4, wherein said vertical wall is generally perpendicular to said two longitudinal opposite edges of said flat strip.
 6. A package of claim 5, wherein said cover portion has a protrusion, and said vertical wall of the adjoining part of the cover portion is a part of a closed side wall of said protrusion.
 7. A package of claim 6, wherein said vertical wall of the adjoining part of the housing portion is a part of a wall of said cavity.
 8. A package of claim 7, wherein said protrusion of said cover portion is adapted to be in snug engagement with said cavity of said housing portion.
 9. A package of claim 6, wherein said housing portion comprises a recess and said cavity steps down from a bottom surface of said recess.
 10. A package of claim 9, wherein said vertical wall of the adjoining part of the housing portion is a part of a wall of said recess.
 11. A package of claim 10, wherein said protrusion of said cover portion is adapted to be in snug engagement with said recess of said housing portion.
 12. A package of claim 5, wherein said vertical wall comprises two side walls of a ridge formed on said cover portion.
 13. A package of claim 12, wherein said cover portion is formed with at least one of said ridge.
 14. A package of claim 13, wherein said cover portion further comprises a protrusion having a proximal wall that is connected to said connection portion along one of said longitudinal edge of said elongated strip, and said ridge extends from said proximal wall.
 15. A package of claim 14, wherein said vertical wall further comprises two side walls of said protrusion generally perpendicularly extending from said proximal wall.
 16. A package of claim 2, wherein said strip is in a horizontal direction parallel to a flat surface from which said cavity is formed.
 17. A package of claim 2, wherein said strip is in a vertical direction perpendicular to a flat surface from which said cavity is formed.
 18. A package of claim 2, wherein said strip is a single straight edge and said two opposite straight longitudinal edges merges as a single one.
 19. A package for holding an item, comprising: a body portion having a first element and a second element, and a cavity formed on said first element and/or second element for accommodating said item; and a hinge portion for connecting said first and second elements; wherein said hinge portion is generally flat in shape, and has a less bending resistance than adjoining portions of said first and second elements.
 20. A package of claim 19, wherein said hinge portion is an elongate strip having two opposite longitudinal edges, along which said first and second elements are connected to said hinge portion respectively.
 21. A package of claim 20, wherein said elongate strip is formed with one or more cut-out holes along the strip.
 22. A package of claim 20, wherein said elongate strip is formed with cut-away indents at opposite free ends.
 23. A package of claim 20, wherein each of said adjoining portions of said first and second elements comprises a vertical wall extending on a plane substantially perpendicular to said opposite edges of said elongate strip. 